One of the features of modern air power is the enormous costs associated with contemporary combat aircraft. Even the United States of America has been forced to Ocut back on its acquisitions of the F-22, the world’s most expensive fighter. Likewise, fiscal problems are reported to have been the reason why the UPA government did not conclude the deal to purchase 126 Rafale fighters from France. Barring China, fiscal retrenchment seems to be a common obstacle being faced by air forces across the world.

A collated Indian view of “affordable air power” has three dimensions:

a. Capital Intensiveness;

b. War Plans, Usage and Integration;

c. Indigenisation.

An additional factor that must be kept in mind in the Indian context is that, being surrounded by nuclear powers, there is a state of “nuclear deterrence” on the country’s eastern and western fronts. This implies that outright war or total war is not a high probability. This factor alone plays a significant role in how “affordable airpower” may be defined in the Indian context, since it creates different patterns of cost-benefit analysis.
To discuss the issues arising from this challenge, Dr Manoj Joshi, Distinguished Fellow, ORF and Mr. Pushpindar Singh, Chairman, Society for Aerospace Studies organised a conference on “Affordable Air Power” at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi on October 30, 2013. The participants at the discussion included Air Marshal (Retd.) Brijesh Jayal, Air Marshal M. Matheswaran of the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS), Dr K. Tamilmani, CCR&D DRDO, Air Marshal (Retd.) Nirdosh Tyagi, and Dr Vivek Lall of Reliance Indistries Limited. Also present were a number of senior Indian Air Force (IAF) officers who cannot be named for reasons of confidentiality, as well as representatives of the Indian Navy and IDS. This Special Report is based on presentations and discussions at the workshop.